Leaving Utah

On whatever day this was (I've completely lost track of time now!), we said farewell to our new bestie, the state of Utah, and headed south to Arizona. The red cliffs of Moab gave way to the vast deserts of the Navajo Nation, the area of southern Utah, Arizona and New Mexico governed by the Navajo Nation Council. 

Along the way, we stopped in the town of Mexican Hat - so named because of the above sombrero-wearing rock formation.

A little baffling, but I guess technically yes, eagles are wireless.

After an hour or two of desert, the cliffs of Monument Valley suddenly loom on the horizon.

You may recognise this landscape from the many John Ford & John Wayne westerns that were filmed here. There are a couple of towns out here where almost every member of their small populations between the 30s and the 70s worked on these films, either as extras or crew.

After soaking up as much as we could handle of the desert ambience (ie, insane heat), we fled to Flagstaff, Arizona, a hip little college town (a little bit like Corvallis, with a bit more California-style hippy-ness thrown in - ie, hacky sack seems quite popular here).

Historic Route 66 passes through town.

The unofficial grilled cheese tour of the West continues apace.

We retired to Rendezvous for whiskey-infused chai teas to digest our dinner and catch up on some correspondence.

I sure am going to miss the cafes of America when I return home.

Get My Canteen Filled

I won't pretend that this song had nothing to do with our visit to Moab - what's a Paul & Marianne international holiday without a bit of a Bright Eyes pilgrimage, after all? Still, Moab turned out to be close to a whole lot of cool stuff and perfectly in line with our route through Utah, so even without the Conor-ness it would've been crazy not to stop by.

Before heading into town, we made a slight detour on the outskirts - a bit of clever research on Paul's part uncovered Matrimony Spring, a free-flowing spring that runs out of the cliffs near the junction of the 128 and the 192. The legend of the spring goes that all who drink from it will one day return to Moab, and locals and visitors alike are known to fill their canteens here (as the song suggests).

Of course, we had to have a sip:

I wonder if the mystical prophesy of the spring is cancelled out if you drink the water out of a Coca Cola branded bottle? And yes, I am redder than a beetroot and wearing gym shorts - it's hot in the desert! Don't judge me, dammit!

Also, there happen to be dinosaur tracks embedded in the rocks around the spring. Typical, Utah, typical!

After getting de-deserted, we hit up the town's microbrewery for some dinner.

Don't let those Mormons fool you - the beer (and the food) we've had in Utah so far has been excellent!

 And finally a moonlit stroll and relax on the grass outside our hotel, with the La Sal mountains watching over us.

We spent the morning browsing around Moab's tiny town centre. The town is a hub for all sorts of adventure tourism in the surrounding national parks, so much of downtown is dedicated to jeep/quad bike/bmx/whitewater raft/kayak/whatever-else-you-can-ride-in-the-wilderness hire. There are a few nice cafes though, and a rock shop and a bookstore.

Breakfast at The Love Muffin.

Of course, the obligatory rock/geode/crystal/fossil shop.

As well as exploring the main street, we took a little back road to see what we could find in the hills behind the town. The valley is pretty incredible - the town itself is like a little green oasis in the middle of the desert, and you can order a soy latte on Main St one minute and be standing on a deserted river bank, surrounded by red cliffs, the next:

A pretty nice place to enjoy a soy latte, if you're so inclined.

After a final look out over the valley and the town, it was time to hit the road. Moab, I trust we'll see you and your rugged cliffs and delicious microbrews again!

Utah - Still Amazeballs

Just like that, the green hills of Colorado turned into the red mesas of Utah. Sigh!

The town of Moab was our destination for the evening, and happily the famous Arches National Park is just above the Moab valley. It was late afternoon when we arrived, so a little too hot to do any hiking. Instead, we hid from the desert sun and visited the viewpoints along the road, which were certainly impressive enough.

Petrified sand dunes

Delicate Arch, the unofficial symbol of Utah

It's just SO... BIG

The La Sal Mountains in the distance

Sometimes I think this must be just a painted backdrop - it's hard for my brain to believe this is all real! Our brief visit to the park has whet my appetite for some desert exploration. I'd love to come back and do some longer hikes and see more of the arches close up (possibly at a cooler time of year - although the park looks fairly formidable in winter. How can it be so desert-y right now, and also be covered in snow for several months of the year? Nature, you crazy!).

Dinosaur, Colorado!

The next stop on the prehistoric portion of our grand tour was the Dinosaur National Monument - just a short drive from the Colorado border (and the town of Dinosaur) and the site of many fossil discoveries.

There's some work being done in the park right now (the visitors' centre kept collapsing because it was built on soft clay, so they've finally shelled out to rebuild it), but there's still a few things to see.

Heading up the track

These rocks are covered with the impressions of prehistoric fish scales, as this area used to be partially under water.

Sauropod tail bone fragments

Stegosaurus humerus!

Paul communes with a sauropod's femur

Tiny fossilised clams

As well as dino stuff, there are also 1000 year old Native American petroglyphs

And possibly best of all, motherfucking prairie dogs!

Prairie dogs EVERYWHERE. These are but two of the many, many photos we took of these little dudes popping out of their burrows and dashing about the place.

Paying our respects to the dino guardian of the carpark

Next next stop on the dinotour? Colorado, and the humble town of Dinosaur.

Blue Mountain, near the Colorado border

Farewell Utah (for now), and hello Moffat County Colorado...

... and hello Dinosaur!

All of the streets in Dinosaur have dino names - I can't tell you how funny it is to hear the GPS say "turn left - Highway 64, Stegosaurus Highway". We may have made a few unnecessary turns just to enjoy the absurdity.

We met some of the locals...

... and visited a few more street corners.

Our final item of business in Dinosaur?

 Lunch, of course!

Delicious malts...

... and a grilled cheese.